Mount Alexander shire shouldn’t be praised

Labor candidate for Bendigo Lisa Chesters extols the virtues of the federal government’s energy efficiency projects. With $1.5 billion in grants, it looks good on the face of it.

Labor candidate for Bendigo Lisa Chesters extols the virtues of the federal government’s energy efficiency projects. With $1.5 billion in grants, it looks good on the face of it.

But pink batts, school libraries etcetera come to mind.

Now fancy picking the Mount Alexander shire’s School of Mines upgrade as an example of good planning by local government.

The School of Mines is a money pit and white elephant.

Call it what you like.

First they sell the building, then buy it back in an attempt to centralise council’s departments. Yeah great idea – parking is out of control in Castlemaine now.

With the buy-back cost and the refurbishment blow-out costs they should have built brand new shire offices elsewhere. That would have decentralised the shire offices, provided heaps of parking and easy access, and a building with all the bells and whistles that Lisa Chesters alludes to.

Too many bad decisions have been made in the Mount Alexander shire.

So in future please don’t use our council as a prime example of good local government management.